Like others here, I first saw Honour Blackman in The Guided Cage as part of TV Heaven in the early 90s in C4.

I was initially taken aback at how different it was to the filmed series I'd come to love. I believe the following year, C4 repeated 12 episodes, mostly from series 3 but one from series 1 and one from series 2. Still I found them a little slower and less interesting, but, because it was The Avengers, I persevered.

I'm so glad I did.

As my tastes have changed, I have come to love the earlier episodes. The character of Cathy Gale is so well realised and I love her interaction with Steed.

If only C4 had shown a different episode as part of TV Heaven - there were so many more interesting episodes to show. I wonder what the thinking behind that was?

Season 3 now ranks as one of my favourite eras of the show._________________You really must have a word with that cleaning lady....

If only C4 had shown a different episode as part of TV Heaven - there were so many more interesting episodes to show. I wonder what the thinking behind that was?

Good question. I haven't managed to see "The Guilded Cage" yet so I don't know how it fitted the bill.

Usually they select an episode that will have the most appeal and works in isolation, not necessarily one that is representative of the series. For series 4 it seems to be "The House That Jack Built".

An extreme example is "The Girl That Was Death" which is always wheeled out whenever they want a single episode of The Prisoner and is easily one of the least typical of the show. For The Persuaders! it's usually "Greensleeves".

My other question would be why the choice was made to show Immortal Clay from series 2 in the Channel 4 repeats. It sort of put me off the earlier episodes, but when i finally got to see the others, I was really surprised to see how many gems there were in that year's crown.

I found Immortal Clay a little slow, but something like Death Dispatch, Mr Teddy Bear, Intercrime or the like would have set my appetite on fire!_________________You really must have a word with that cleaning lady....

OMG, understatement of the century! It's a dull plot and a dull episode, why DID they ever choose to show that? Surely the nadir of series 2. In a series mostly about spies or financial dealing, that one is the oddest choice to show - industrial espionage of ... ceramics. Yawn.
I'd pick any other, maybe even The Removal Men because of the look on Edwin Richfield's face when Dave Lee's band keeps playing, and playing ... (or the look on Patrick Macnee's in pretty much every scene with Patricia Denys or Edina Ronay)._________________Mrs Peel, you're needed!
http://www.dissolute.com.au/the-avengers-tv-series/
Every episode from 1961 to 1977 plus more trivia than you can shake a brolly at.

Last edited by dissolute on Tue Oct 24, 2017 1:52 pm; edited 1 time in total

It would be interesting to know what others would have chosen for the C4 reruns in 93 - perhaps an interesting point of discussion....._________________You really must have a word with that cleaning lady....

Like many others, it was The Gilded Cage in the 1963 edition of TV Heaven in February 1992.
Hugely anticipated by me, having only seen clips and the Kinky Boots promo video beforehand! Enjoyed the further dozen episodes from the VT era which followed a year later.
I remember Stay Tuned claiming that the choice of all 13 VT episodes bought by C4 was apparently restricted by a Best of The Avengers repeat run from 1964 (which included Mr Teddy Bear). It did sound very unlikely, but perhaps they were extra careful and episodes were selected to avoid any rights problems.

If I remember correctly, the first Cathy Gale episode I saw was “Dressed to Kill” in November 2000.

Back then, there used to be a cable channel here in Buenos Aires, Argentina (where I live) called Uniseries that aired a few Avengers episodes on a Friday night. Actually, that was the first time I ever saw an episode of the show. Amongst them was “Homicide and old lace”, so I guess I really liked the show because I became a fan even after they chose to screen that particular episode.

A few days ago, I came by a comment left on a YouTube clip that stated that the Cathy Gale episodes survived because copies were kept in Canada. Could that be so? I mean, it has always puzzled me that most of season 1 is missing but we have all of the Gale episodes when seasons 1-3 were shot using the same technology.

After seeing "Tunnel of Fear" I was thinking about The Avengers. The filmed episodes might most be what we now think of as the "real" Avengers. The somewhat more earthy videotaped episodes grow on me more with repeated watching. The more extemporaneous nature versus the more groomed filmed episodes is maybe something of an acquired taste , but I do get more fond on them then I had at fist expected.

"Traitor in Zebra" was my first Cathy Gale episode. I came to it through a back door, so to speak: I was a fan of the 1969 series "The Champions," and enjoyed William Gaunt's performaces in that, so I went looking for other stuff he had done. Turned out he played one of the naval officers in "Zebra," so I found that one and watched it.

I remember spending the whole episode wondering where Mrs Peel was and who the blonde woman was supposed to be, but then I did my homework and learned about the pre-Peel series. And I'm glad I did: Catherine Gale, PhD, is a totally awesome badass, and that role is an important landmark in the history of female characters in television._________________"What I lack in agility I make up for with a certain low cunning"

[to repeat!]It would have been about twenty years ago when all the advertising for the film reminded me of seeing the opening titles of The Avengers as a child in the 1960's. The internet helped me find out about it and I then borrowed a library video with 3 episodes; one was Man With Two Shadows. I liked the exotic restaurant with the dragon statue where Steed meets Cathy.

I have now seen all the Cathy episodes and a few that I really like (Dressed To Kill, Don't Look Behind You etc.) quite a few times. I started a second viewing from the start a year or so ago but my vague memories of 'Six Hands Across A Table' (the next one to watch) just never seem to tempt me. There are a lot of Cathy episodes about crime gangs._________________Ron
Last Watched : The Gladiators